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Study shows African cities growing, but ‘less livable’

Wednesday August 30 2017

Nairobi, the only East African city in the survey, was among the most improved, climbing five positions to 120, up from 125 last year, boosted by a significant improvement in its stability score. PHOTO | FILE

In Summary

The latest Global Livability Index 2017 shows that African cities registered a significant improvement in the survey, but only two of them, Johannesburg and Pretoria, made the top 100 on the list.

Nairobi, the only East African city in the survey, was among the most improved, climbing five positions to 120, up from 125 last year, boosted by a significant improvement in its stability score.

Conflict and political instability were responsible for the lowest scores, with nearly all the bottom ten cities in countries embroiled in or recovering from civil conflicts.

Lagos, Africa’s largest city according to the World Atlas, was among the worst performers, dropping to position 139, from 137 last year, saddled with the continued threat from terror groups such as Boko Haram.

For the seventh consecutive year, Australia’s Melbourne is the most livable urban centre, closely followed by the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Tehran, Dubai, Abidjan, Harare and Colombo are the five most improved cities over the past five years, although they still remain in the lower half of the rankings.

Conflict and political instability were responsible for the lowest scores, with nearly all the bottom ten cities in countries embroiled in or recovering from civil conflicts.